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Topic Review (Newest First)

01-18-2014 11:10 AM

halo2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by llombardo

Neither of mine are barkers at anything for nothing, so when they do bark I do pay attention. They never bark at kids, I hear a little grumble if they think they hear a noise, but they generally move on. If I'm in the house and someone knocks they bark and that is the most I hear. When I'm not in the house they are silent. I have witnessed them sitting staring at the door when the screen opened, so if whoever it was came into the house they would be greeted by them. One time not that long ago the neighbor had some guys fixing the garage and it was cold, they had on ski masks and were on the roof. My male flew across the yard and barked like I have never heard before at them. Thankfully they didn't lose their footing on the garage, but they had to be pooping in their pants when they seen him running at them. Once he got near them, his nose went in the air and he walked away, did not bother with them again the rest of the day. When we came in my son asked me what dog was barking and when I said Midnite, he was quite impressed.

Halo is very vocal. If Shea not growling she let's out semi silent woof. My previous dog koda. She didn't care the only time I knew I needed to go see what was up was when she was going crazy. Which was extremely rare. The one time she went crazy like they our neighbor who has a few loose screws up stares came out of know where. She was right up at my son who was playing dump trucks in the yard I grabbed the my Pp (personal protection) went outside and ask if she needed something Koda stopped going nuts when I addressed the situation. I miss that dog so much.
She was a lab, Sharpe, pit mix.

LVT. N.Latham

01-18-2014 11:01 AM

llombardo

Neither of mine are barkers at anything for nothing, so when they do bark I do pay attention. They never bark at kids, I hear a little grumble if they think they hear a noise, but they generally move on. If I'm in the house and someone knocks they bark and that is the most I hear. When I'm not in the house they are silent. I have witnessed them sitting staring at the door when the screen opened, so if whoever it was came into the house they would be greeted by them. One time not that long ago the neighbor had some guys fixing the garage and it was cold, they had on ski masks and were on the roof. My male flew across the yard and barked like I have never heard before at them. Thankfully they didn't lose their footing on the garage, but they had to be pooping in their pants when they seen him running at them. Once he got near them, his nose went in the air and he walked away, did not bother with them again the rest of the day. When we came in my son asked me what dog was barking and when I said Midnite, he was quite impressed.

01-18-2014 10:19 AM

halo2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kong

This is one of my concerns, Kong is a great dog doesn't bark at people lets pretty much anyone come into the house, and actually tries to play with the pool guys and the guys who come to clean the yard. He does bark at other dogs, you would think the lady pushing the stroller on her cell phone with the pug trotting next to them was trying to steal his favorite frisbee as much as he barks. But, he is fine at the dog park, or if he is off leash while we hike and happen to run into people with a dog on the trail. My concern is that I don't think he would be aggressive if someone was to actually try and break into the house or attacked me while we were out for a run. Anybody have any thoughts or have a dog that exhibits similar behavior..

Halo is fine with other dogs as well until they walk by the yard. Then she acts as if they too would steal something she loves. On a rare occasion she barks when I walk her. But that's when my 5 year old is with me and she doesn't like anyone near him until she's had a chance to get to know the person. Which she's usually not interested in when we are walking. But when she sees a dog typically she wants to play. Same with people once she knows they aren't a threat

LVT. N.Latham

01-17-2014 11:40 PM

Kong

This is one of my concerns, Kong is a great dog doesn't bark at people lets pretty much anyone come into the house, and actually tries to play with the pool guys and the guys who come to clean the yard. He does bark at other dogs, you would think the lady pushing the stroller on her cell phone with the pug trotting next to them was trying to steal his favorite frisbee as much as he barks. But, he is fine at the dog park, or if he is off leash while we hike and happen to run into people with a dog on the trail. My concern is that I don't think he would be aggressive if someone was to actually try and break into the house or attacked me while we were out for a run. Anybody have any thoughts or have a dog that exhibits similar behavior..

01-15-2014 10:40 PM

pets4life

you will notice it comming and going all throughout his puphood, i find they are strongest and most protective around 4 years or so

01-15-2014 09:24 PM

DJEtzel

Quote:

Originally Posted by doggiedad

my dog never showed any behaviour like your dog and if he did
i wouldn't allow it because i didn't want a protective dog. now
if your dog is truly being protective at such a young age start
training and socializing. you want to be in control of his
protective behaviour. maybe you should find a trainer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by boomer11

not saying this is your dog (dont know the situation well enough) but a lot of people think their dog is being protective when its just being nervy. a good stable dog is quiet and will bark and growl when it feels the threat is real and close enough to harm it or its owner. a nervy dog is one that barks at everything that might be a threat. barking can just be a vocal dog. growling would give me pause.

or it could be a solid dog with low threshold. either way, neither one of those is no ideal for a therapy dog.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniFani

This.

I wouldn't like any of these behaviors in a dog under a year old...reads nervy and lack of confidence to me....until maturity I want my dog to see little to nothing as a threat, be social (completely approachable), and confident. A puppy barking, hackling, and backing up (even walking towards) is a scared puppy to me....not an alerting dog, and it's not something I would want to see. Especially something that is a known none-threat...kids running around, my husband walking in the door, someone knocking at the front door, someone walking by the back fence. There is no reason for my dog to bark and act up to any of these things, imho. I would ignore, never encourage, and keep completely calm to show the pup I don't want that behavior for none-threats.

THIS.

Your puppy is not being protective or alert - he is being fearful. Either because of weak nerves, a fear stage, or lack in confidence. You do NOT want this behavior, especially if you want him to be a therapy dog.

My 4 year old GSD, Frag, NEVER showed any behavior like this, thankfully. He was bomb proof as a puppy.

My current pup does get a little upset in some new situations with dogs at first, but he recovers quickly showing strong nerve and just a lack of confidence (since he is experiencing all of this for the first time!) and we are working to fix this everyday with great luck. His threshold is much higher now that he's been out and had good experiences.

Is it normal? For the most part. Is it desirable? ABSOLUTELY not. I'd get with a trainer to fix it asap.

01-15-2014 08:56 PM

DaniFani

Quote:

Originally Posted by boomer11

not saying this is your dog (dont know the situation well enough) but a lot of people think their dog is being protective when its just being nervy. a good stable dog is quiet and will bark and growl when it feels the threat is real and close enough to harm it or its owner. a nervy dog is one that barks at everything that might be a threat. barking can just be a vocal dog. growling would give me pause.

or it could be a solid dog with low threshold. either way, neither one of those is no ideal for a therapy dog.

This.

I wouldn't like any of these behaviors in a dog under a year old...reads nervy and lack of confidence to me....until maturity I want my dog to see little to nothing as a threat, be social (completely approachable), and confident. A puppy barking, hackling, and backing up (even walking towards) is a scared puppy to me....not an alerting dog, and it's not something I would want to see. Especially something that is a known none-threat...kids running around, my husband walking in the door, someone knocking at the front door, someone walking by the back fence. There is no reason for my dog to bark and act up to any of these things, imho. I would ignore, never encourage, and keep completely calm to show the pup I don't want that behavior for none-threats.

01-15-2014 08:32 PM

Mikelia

Eli never barked at anyone as a pup. He was raised in town, taught to be quiet and saw a lot of different people do a lot of different things. As far as I can recall he never faced anything that needed alerting to until he was much older.
When I first saw his protective-ness he was probably about two years old, we were on a walk at night and someone came up to us on a bike. He is a social butterfly, passed his therapy dog test with flying colours, has his CGC and his TEC which is similar to the TT, and he visits with everyone. This person though, he just stood beside me, puffed his chest out and let out a very quiet and deep belly growl. He did not visit this person and just stood between me and them. No barking, no hackles, just intensely stared at them, did his growl and held his ground. I gave the person the directions they wanted and we continued on our way. Other than the person being a little drunk and slightly slow I have no idea what Eli's issue was, but if my otherwise social dog decided that one person out of thousands was not allowed near me and can keep a civil head about it, I'm going with his judgement call.
He does not bark at people he sees near his yard, he does bark at the door but I figure that is more of a group thing - the pack just keeps teaching each new generation that dogs bark at door knocks, if I open the door for someone to come in he accepts my decision and does not bark at them. He generally does nothing that remotely resembles a protective dog, but how often is the average pet really exposed to a situation that requires the dog to react? To me, he is the perfect protective dog that has never been trained to protect.

01-15-2014 08:05 PM

mcdanfam

Millie and miles will go to the door if the bell rings. If they know the people, they sit and wait for us. If they don't....they will bark real deep a couple of times. A man was running toward the girls, he was a jogger we know, but was wearing a hoodie and bigger glasses due to the rain....the dogs both stopped at the back of the car and waited until he passed before getting in. Neither barked but both watched with very stiff bodies. The older they get the less they bark and just watch...intently....! I think that is coming with training...he wants them to watch but not react unless told to or unless they need to. It may come with age....ours use to bark at the bell Every time....use to bark at the obnoxious teens behind us every time....now they just keep and eye out and bark when things are chasing us...:-/ A dog got out of someone's house...it was chasing the car....dogs went nuts, but when we came home and he did it, they did not bark....difference kids were not in the car...they had been dropped at school. Motorcycles are okay, but if the guy is wearing a face covering helmet....not okay....they have weird quirks....
The only time we have heard growling as older pups was when the older teen/20 something kid came into our back lawn...before they were 7months old they barked ducks back into the pond, geese, swans, squirrels, birds....it was crazy....and god forbid a bird land in their yard, they would try and get through the windows for such blatant trespassing.

Sorry, I had a lot of typos in that! Typing fast on my phone plus auto correct! Chief is training now and working towards his Canine Good Citizen test
so he can be a therapy dog . But now I'm worried that he may be TOO alert for that. I don't want the slightest things freaking him out. Though in class so far he hasn't been bothered by the slamming of a clip board on the ground, the noise of the trash bag opening etc when he was tested.

There's a difference at home. At home is his. His family. His house. His yard. Whatever in public its not his. The alertness may be elevated with knowing you your family your house is all his. Per say if that makes sence.